H6 JUDGING SHEEP 



catches the dirt and dust and pieces of hay and straw. 

 From the shepherd's point of view the denseness of the 

 fleece is its leading feature, for it will be found that those 

 animals with dense close fleeces are less subject to such 

 diseases as catarrh, running at the nose or scouring. 

 When a sheep experiences a chill, it at once affects the 

 circulation and sends the blood to the internal organs, and 

 inflammation or scouring results. This is why sheep that 

 have open fleeces are more subject to such diseases than 

 those that have dense fleeces. Wool is one of the best 

 non-conductors of heat that we have and when it is on a 

 sheep in the form of a dense fleece, it gives them the 

 greatest possible protection from exposure. Furthermore, 

 if the fleece is not dense, it is almost impossible for the 

 fiber to be sound that is, free from weak spots. When 

 a sheep has been badly chilled or has become sick in any 

 way so as to cause the pores of the skin to contract, a 

 break or shrinkage occurs in the fiber at that point. The 

 wool on a sheep grows from a small sac in the skin and 

 it passes away from the skin through a small opening 

 which may be easily contracted or expanded, according 

 to different influences. The influences are various, and 

 for that reason it is important that the sheep be covered 

 with a fleece that is so dense as not to be affected much 

 by external conditions. 



167. Length of Staple. The length of the staple is an 

 important feature, both from a commercial point of view 

 and from the shepherd's standpoint. Wools are generally 

 known as short-stapled or the carding wools, which are 

 used for woolen clothes, or long-stapled or combing wools, 

 which are used for worsted clothes. The long stapled 

 wools include the Lincoln, Leicester, Cotswold, Romney 

 March and Black Face or Highland. The short stapled 

 include all the Downs (Southdown, Hampshire, Suffolk, 

 Shropshire, Oxford) and the Cheviot and Welsh. The 



